Nightmare Scenario For QuaDream: Israeli Spyware Company Shutting Down

QuaDream Shutting Down Following Expose By Citizen Lab and Microsoft

As per reports, Israeli spyware vendor and cyber offensive company QuaDream is will be shutting down its operations permanently in the coming days. This news comes a few days after the company’s hacking toolset was exposed by Citizen Lab and Microsoft.

QuaDream is a technology company that specializes in hacking Apple devices using “zero-click” infections which do not require any action on the part of the victim. In the expose, the company was ousted for using its spyware framework dubbed REIGN, against journalists, political opposition figures, and NGO workers across North America, Central Asia, Southeast Asia, Europe, and the Middle East.

According to Microsoft, REIGN is a “suite of exploits, malware, and infrastructure designed to exfiltrate data from mobile devices.” According to The Hacker News, the attacks launched by QuaDream entailed the exploitation of a now-patched flaw in iOS to deploy sophisticated surveillance-ware.

This ‘surveillance-ware’ is capable of secretively gathering sensitive information, including audio, pictures, passwords, files, and locations.

See also

Tech & Science

Gotcha! Elon Musk Accuses BBC Reporter Of Lying In Interview

However, this expose is not the only cause of the company shutting down. As Haaretz reports, the company (like many n the industry) has been undergoing significant downsizing. In some cases, the company has lost entire teams to its competitors.

Haaretz highlights that as per people acquainted with the local cyber arms industry, the expose, accompanied by a lack of sales and Israeli regulations in the industry has ultimately led to the “death” of QuaDream.

According to Calcalist, a local newspaper, the company “hasn’t been fully active for a while” and that it “has been in a difficult situation for several months.”

On Sunday, the company called its employees in for a pre-termination meeting. The Hacker News reports that the company’s board of directors is looking to sell off its intellectual property.